Family Meeting
by Liz Skywalker
Summary: Obi-Wan goes home and meets his family. Pre-TPM


Story outline: I always wondered if Owen ever met Obi-wan after he was taken. This is a short story that I wrote one day after reading way too much star wars Books and fan fiction. 

Spoilers: very minor TPM spoiler (I hope you know that Qui-Gon is Obi-Wan's Master) and Jedi Apprentice series spoilers. Some Terry Brook's TPM spoilers. 

Note: I wrote this waiting for Jedi Apprentice 3 to come out so anything in that book and after is not applicable for this story. 

Disclaimer: I don't own star wars or any of the characters, they all belong to George Lucas and his companies. I'm not making any money off of this. Anyone can Distribute this freely provided that it is complete, including this disclaimer, And you don't take credit for writing it and aren't making any money off of my Work. 

Family Meeting by Liz Skywalker (lizskywalker@hotmail.com) 

18 year old Owen Lars walked into the Jedi Delegation's guesthouse and looked around for someone to help him. Spotting someone sitting at a desk, he walked over to there. 

"Hello. I'm Palely Jisu. May I help you?" She asked him. He was over- whelmed. What was he supposed to say? 

"Uh, my name is Owen Lars and I, I want to know if I can talk to someone named Ben Lars. He's a Jedi," He asked. Fool. Was Ben even here? Not all the Jedi were here, just some. He'd heard that over 100 Jedi were here, so maybe Ben or someone who knew Ben would be here. 

"Ben Lars... Let me check. No one here named Ben Lars. He's your brother?" She asked. 

"Yeah. About 16 years ago, some Jedi took him. He was 6 months old and I wanted to see how he was," Owen got out. 

"Wait a sec. His birth name was Ben Lars?" She asked, suddenly thinking of something. 

"Yeah, Benjamin Kenobi Lars. You know him?" He asked, instantly hopeful. 

"I might. Master Qui-Gon Jinn would know. He knows all the Jedi who were Taken around that time. I'll check," She walked out from behind the desk and went over to a man looking like he was waiting for someone. She spoke to him and he nodded. She looked in his direction and Owen squirmed. Palely came back. 

"You're in luck. He's here. Master Qui-Gon went to get him from the sparing room. He's fighting Garen Muln right now, so it might be awhile." They talked for a few minutes, then Owen saw the man from before walk in with a teenager with an odd haircut. It was cut very short, except for a long braid hanging over one shoulder. He was sweating and describing something to the man with his hands. The man stopped and spoke to the boy who then walked over to Owen. 

"Hi. Are you Owen Lars?" The boy asked him. 

"Yes. Are you my brother?" He asked the boy feeling very foolish. How was he supposed to introduce himself? 

"I don't know. Master Qui-Gon said you were, so I suppose you are. My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi." The boy offered. Obi-Wan Kenobi? Kenobi was his brother's middle name, not his last name. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe this wasn't his brother. 

"Hello Obi-Wan. My brother's name is, or was I should say, Benjamin Kenobi Lars. Was that your birth name?" Owen asked, mentally promising himself that he would never approach a Jedi again. It was too embarrassing. 

"I think so." Another awkward silence. The man called Qui-Gon noticed and came over. 

"Hello. Mind if I clear some things up? Obi-Wan Kenobi meet Owen Lars, your older brother. Owen Lars meet Obi-Wan Kenobi, formerly Ben Lars. Anything you need explained?" Qui-Gon asked. 

"Master, why didn't you tell me about my family?" Obi-Wan asked, former confidence shattered. 

"We are not supposed to until you pass the trials. Even I wouldn't break that. If you find out on your own, well, we aren't told to stop it. Why don't you two get to know each other? Garen has someone else to fight, so take as long as you want." Qui-Gon directed them to a table in the dining hall and left them. 

"Owen, can I ask you something I've always wanted to ask someone? What are my parents like? I mean, are they nice and all? Was it good that I left? There's so much I don't know and that I want to!" 

"They're nice. Mom's got long brown hair, same color as mine. She's nice, but strict. You never want to cross her. Dad's cool. He's got blondeish hair that's graying. He's also nice and strict. He's a lot of fun but you can't lie to him. He seems to know when you are lying. He just stares at you until you tell him the truth. You're my only brother, we have a younger sister named Elisabeth, she's twelve and really mischievous. She's got long brown hair that's tinted red a little, like yours. She wears it down all the time. Mostly she's out of the house with her friends, at clubs and such; she's a great card player. If you hadn't left, you'd be probably working in the shop after school everyday. Interpret that anyway you want to." 

"That sounds great. But I don't feel guilty for leaving. Do you hold that against me?" Obi-Wan asked and Owen could hear the pleading in his voice. 

"No, Ben, sorry, Obi-Wan, hard to get used to. I don't. I want to get away from home and you got a chance. Also, I have to worry about what kind of career to pursue, you have that already picked out for you. I mean, you're going to be a Jedi Knight and all. That's pretty wild. Hey, something I've been wondering about. Do you have bullies in Jedi-land, or what ever it's called?" 

"Jedi Temple. Yes, they could be called bullies. There was one kid who called me Oafy-Wan for a few years. I don't see him anymore. He was sent to Agri-Corps. I've got some great friends though. One of them is Garen Muln, the guy I was fighting with." At this Owen's eye brows lifted. 

"Wait. You said he was your friend. Why were you fighting him?" 

"Oh. I see what you mean. The thing is, usually we spar not using our lightsabers, but here we don't have anything else, so I had to fight with a friend, to make sure that I wouldn't get maimed. Fighting isn't wresting, when we Padawans say fighting, we mean practicing with our 'sabers." 

"Lightsabers? I've heard of them. That's cool. I got something to ask you. I was supposed to come here and see how you were doing. Do you want to come with me and meet the family? We live on this planet and it's about a half an hour from here. Do you want to? I've got a speeder outside." Owen offered. 

"I want to but I've got to ask Master Qui-Gon first." Obi-Wan walked over to the man from before, Qui-Gon Jinn. "Master, can I go with Owen to see my family?" 

"When will you be back by?" Qui-Gon asked Owen who suddenly seemed flustered. 

"Um. I'm only loaned the speeder until 1600 and now it's 1400..." Owen stammered. 

"That's okay. I can drive you back here, Obi-Wan, if you want to go." Qui- Gon offered. Qui-Gon wished he had been able to meet his family. He had never been able to. They had been killed just before he faced the trials. 

"Thank you, Master." Obi-Wan said and then left with his newly found brother Owen Lars. They drove in silence past different places until they got to a small house. 

"Don't look like much, eh, Obi-Wan? Don't feel bad, it isn't much. Nearest civilization is a few miles down. There's ma. Hey ma!" 

"Owen! You're late! Huff's father wanted his speeder back..." She trailed off as she saw Obi-Wan. Mrs. Lars turned dead white and her hand shook. "Owen, don't ever do that to me. Never scare me like that, I'm too old. My nerves can't take this shock. Hello Ben." Of course, a mother always recognizes her son, even though he had a wacko haircut. Or maybe she could sense the Force in him, Obi- Wan didn't know, but then again, he didn't care. 

"Hello. I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi, born Ben Lars." Obi-Wan introduced himself. 

"Where are my manners? Come in Owen, Ben. Come in, sit down." She led them into a small dining room with a round table in the center. A greasy looking man sat in one of the chairs and a petite girl was playing single-sabacc in another. "Omar, Elisabeth, meet Ben Lars." At this the man looked shocked but the girl didn't seem surprised at all. Obi-Wan felt at her and didn't sense any Force- sensitivity. She's probably used to surprises, he told himself. 

"Hello." He said. Once his father had gotten over his initial shock, Obi- Wan was invited to sit down and they spent a half an hour talking. 

"Do you have any enemies?" Elisabeth asked suddenly. Obi-Wan started. Enemies? 

"What?" He asked, startled. 

"Yeah, like Frederic Rich and Phillip Vetch in Star's Paradise," She said referring to the popular holo-drama. "They're enemies. So I'm wondering, do have any enemies?" 

"What's Star's Paradise? Never mind. Well, there are the Sith, they're the enemy of the Jedi, but they've been dead for centuries, at least. There are ideas I'm opposed to, but I don't think that's what you are talking about. Personal enemies you mean." She nodded. "I don't have any foes inside the Temple that I know about." He answered. 

"How about outside the Temple?" She pressed, wanting to be able to tell her friends all about her Jedi brother. 

"I don't know many people outside the Temple. Oh, you mean... I get it! My mistake. The phrase 'inside the Temple' means all Jedi. It's a phrase us Padawans developed. I know a bit over a handful of people outside the Temple and as far as I know, none of them hate me." 

"You keep using the term Padawan to describe yourself and Jedi also. Which are you? When we gave you away, we thought you were going to be a Jedi Knight." Omar Lars asked with a hint of anger in his voice. 

"That's what they told you? That makes sense of something. When I was drafted into Agri-corps, Yoda said that I would be a Jedi. I had wondered how he knew. The babies are taken into the Temple and trained. We have until the age of 13 to be picked to be Padawan Learners to the Jedi Knights. If we aren't, we are sent to a different line of work. Just before my 13th birthday, Qui-Gon came and left. I was sent to Agri-Corps but Qui-Gon came with me and after a while, chose me to be his Padawan. A Padawan is an apprentice, I guess. We are Jedi, but not full Jedi Knights. To become a Knight, we have to pass the trials. When I pass mine, I'm going to grow my hair out like Master Qui-Gon and cut off the braid. I don't like being the stereotype. I guess Qui-Gon is rubbing off on me." Obi-Wan answered, attempting humor. 

"Stereotype?" Owen asked confused. "I had thought the braid was a statement of teenage rebellion." 

"Teenage rebellion? Do I even want to know what that is? No, the braid and the short hair is the traditional Padawan look. All us Padawans have to sport this look. There's a running joke that this is the haircut that a young Jedi was born with." Obi-Wan said, smiling at the joke. 

"What's so funny about that?" Elisabeth asked, mystified. 

"The Jedi's name was Yoda." Obi-Wan said, not quite able to stop grinning like an idiot. He stopped when he saw that his family didn't get it. "Yoda is on the Jedi council, one of the strictest ones at that. Yoda also has very little hair; he's very old, about 850 years old. No one can imagine Yoda with a lot of hair and young. That's the joke. Oh, never mind." 

"You mentioned before about ideas that you disliked. What were those?" Mrs. Lars asked, half attempting to change the subject, and half wanting to know all she could about her forfeited son. 

"The main one is one I'm sure that you might be able to relate to. I hate this Taking thing. I know it's necessary, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I think it's just plain mean to take babies from their parents." Obi-Wan stated. 

"Have you ever Took anyone from their parents?" Mr. Lars asked. 

"Yes. I'm ashamed of myself. One of my duties as Padawan was once to take Master Qui-Gon to Take a human baby from her parents. She cried and so did her mother. It was heart wrenching. The cruelest part, I think, is the renaming. We Take a baby from its parents and strip it of everything including its name. For me, it was a year of middle names; they took my middle name and made it my last name. They took an ancient form of Ben and got Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan Kenobi. For her, though, her birth name was Tabitha Ute, her mothers maiden name was Yvonne. They renamed her Tabai Yon-Von. She's 3 years old now. I just balked at doing it again." 

"You keep mentioning a Master Qui-Gon. Who is he and what is he to you?" Elisabeth asked. 

"Are you a holo-reporter? Oops, sorry. Qui-Gon is my master, my teacher, my friend, a sort of..." Obi-Wan trailed off and turned bright red. 

"Your what?" Mr. Lars asked quietly, trying to keep the menace out of his voice. 

"A sort of a father figure to me. He gives me advice and well, he's the master, I'm the Padawan, it's a close relationship." Obi-Wan said from behind closed eyes. He didn't want to see his father's reaction to this. 

"A father figure. Thank you Ben for reassuring me. I always kicked myself for not providing you with fatherly support." Mr. Lars said, softening. Obi-Wan started to nod and stopped in the middle. He had a puzzled expression. Then his face lit up. 

"What is it, Ben?" Mrs. Lars inquired. 

"Something that I've been trying to do and I just did it." 

"And what was that?" Elisabeth asked acting every bit like a holo- reporter. 

"Sense the disturbance in the Force of Qui-Gon from a long way away. I just felt Qui-Gon." 

"Hey, Obi-Wan, you were talking about your lightsaber before. What's it like?" Owen asked. He was the only one who called Obi-Wan Obi-Wan, not Ben. 

"It's a long cylindrical metal tube with some gadgetry and a focusing jewel inside. It's blue-toned because I used a red jewel. My friend Garen Muln has a green one like Master Qui-Gon, they used yellow gems. I made my lightsaber when I was twelve and it took me a month." 

"Can you give us a demonstration?" The little collector of information, Elisabeth Lars, questioned. 

Obi-Wan took his lightsaber from his belt and hit it on. He flicked it from side to side experimentally. "I can't show you a match and I'm not so in- tune with the Force to be able to pick off blaster shots with out preparation, so there's not much I can do." He flipped the lightsaber off and hooked it back onto his belt. "Any more questions, Ms. Reporter?" She giggled. Suddenly the whine of a speeder's engine's cut through the room. 

"Who's that?" Mrs. Lars asked. 

"Qui-Gon?" Owen asked Obi-Wan, who nodded. There was a knock on the door and Mrs. Lars opened the door to admit the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. 

"Greetings Master." Obi-Wan said. 

"Hello Padawan. I presume this is your family." Qui-Gon said. 

"Yes, Master. May I present my mother Jean Lars, my father Omar Lars, my sister Elisabeth Lars, and my brother Owen Lars. My family, might I present my Master, Qui-Gon Jinn." Obi-Wan said with the most formal presentation forms he knew. His family and Qui-Gon nodded to each other. 

"I'm afraid I must take Obi-Wan, Ben, back now. He is needed." Qui-Gon uttered. 

"With your permission?" Obi-Wan said to his family. They granted him permission and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ben Lars, gave a short bow and left the house of his birth never to return again. 

"Well, that was interesting." Owen said to the air after Obi-Wan walked out of their lives for the second time. 

"Indeed. He was so mannerly! That retreating formula he used was the height of etiquette. He must have considered us high dignitaries." Elisabeth said in wonder. "I met a Jedi and it was my brother! I've only met him once in my life, but I think he's changed it. I know what profession I will do when I grow up now. I'm going to be a holo-reporter! I don't get somethings about him though. It's like he's from another world or something." 

"In essence, he is from another world. He grew up on Coruscant, alienated from the outside world, having no real parents, just friends and teachers. A 24/7 training academy from the age 6 months. That's got to be considered a different world. He didn't know what teenage rebellion was or the most famous holo-drama in the galaxy, yet he probably could talk on hours about subjects that we probably don't know even exist. The way he got so excited when he could, how'd he put it? Sense something through the Force? Whatever. He knows about the Force, can use the Force, it's like he's from another species. I think he is, from another species that is. Jedi are a group of talented people and it isn't always genetic. I think Obi-Wan Kenobi is going to be a great Jedi someday." Owen finished. 

"Why do you call him Obi-Wan? His name is Ben," Mrs. Lars asked. 

"It's not. He hasn't been Ben Lars since he was less than a year old. Ben Lars died when he was Taken and Obi-Wan Kenobi, which I happen to think is a Jedi-like name, was born. I don't think I'll ever see him again, but my boy will make me proud. I just hope that he knows that." 

"Master, what do you think of my birth family?" Obi-Wan asked as they sped from the small house. 

"Calling them your birth family, now you do. Distance them from you, are you?" Qui-Gon asked, attempting humor. 

"Acting like Master Yoda, Qui-Gon is. Distance myself, I do. My family now, they are not. Were my family once, they were. My family, my Master and friends are." Obi-Wan said very serious despite the odd sequence of words. "See them again, will I?" 

"Always in motion the future is, hard to see." Qui-Gon said and they both started laughing together. Master and Padawan, Father and Son, blood didn't discriminate. They were past that, beyond that. They were bonded as was always meant to be. THE END THIS IS. LIKED MY STORY DID YOU, HMM? 


End file.
